We wanted to organize a great ceremony that everyone, especially the graduates, would remember. We thought that it would be logical to reward the students after four years of hard-work at the Grande Ecole du Droit. To make this evening unforgettable, we decided to gather the family and friends of the graduates. We also invited all the Grande Ecole du Droit students and our teachers.

Last tests are being made on the microphone. Latercomers tiptoe into the room. It’s time for everyone to take a seat. It’s time for the first afterwork of 2016 to start. The afterworks are becoming a custom for the GED student. It’s an evening to meet and exchange with professionals. Of course, an afterwork wouldn’t be complete without a buffet where the students can learn the value of networking. But the concept itself underwent some transformations. Five GED students (Opale Malet, Manon Bourdin, Chloé Dumont, Flora Boillaut and myself) indeed worked on the afterworks project for several months in order to get it back on feet again.

Last year, because I was doing my Business and Finance law Masters 1 by anticipation, just like every third-year student in the Grande Ecole du Droit, I had to choose one elective course each semester in Business and Finance law to complete the requirements of the Masters degree.

While I had chosen commercial law for the first semester, I wanted something really new for the second semester. I figured that competition law would be the one, given that I heard lots but did not know a thing about it. Let me just say that it was a great choice, I absolutely do not regret it and it helped me a lot during my LL.M !

The only negative point I remember about this course was its hours : we had class on Mondays from 5 to 8pm. Not a big deal when you love what you are doing, right ? That was not exactly my opinion at the time but let’s move to the teacher and the content of the class.

On September 18th 2015, the GED students gathered at the Tour First for the annual meeting with our partner EY. It was a new beginning that had a déjà vu feeling. For the older ones it was the start of another year and for the youngest, a smooth but enlightening way to discover a unique aspect of La Grande Ecole du Droit.

A warm welcome to the first year GED students with a home-baked cake.

The GED is an ever-changing structure thanks to the arrival of new students : each year more and more undergraduates choose the GED among the innumerable possibilities of APB (Admission Post Bac). The GED is growing and so is the importance and the need to have a stronger and cohesive team spirit. In order to strengthen our group dynamic, we honored a tradition established by our seniors: organizing events to welcome and integrate the GED1.

In this logic, the well-known GED freshers’ day has significantly been lengthened to a freshers’ week-end from September 25th to 26th(also called the WEI). The WEI took place in the Aube. Far away from Sceaux and its academic atmosphere. It is a way to enjoy each other’s company before tackling the huge amount of work given by October. Cheerful atmosphere, obstacle races, songs,… a whole week-end to discover each other and to reassert the bonds between the different years of the GED. Some students of the Law and Economy courses of Assas were also there to dance and sing with us. It was not just an occasion to get to know each other but also a way to discover our students’ secret talents.

GED students enjoying an activity during the WEI.

Then came freshers’ night that concluded this two weeks of integration.

Some GED students at the first WEI.

The will to integrate new GED students can also be seen in our every day lives. We remain a group that shows everyday its cohesion. For instance, the tutorial system has been reinstated this year to enable dialogue between the different promotions of the GED.

Being part of group, feeling integrated… Here are some examples of goals that we want to achieve with success.

Information collected by Elise Wagner
Written by Juliette Tironneau

Everyone remembers their first time.

For the Grande Ecole du Droit, it was the weekend of September 25th. This first WEI (Integration Week-End) was not only a success from an organizational point of view but also regarding the welcoming atmosphere. The holiday cottage, located in the region of Aube, as well as the mean of transport (coach) had been booked by Manon Bourdin (a second year student).

The setting was perfect for a chilled-out stay: a river, a wood, horses (the cottage was actually an equestrian centre). To cut a long story short: nature was surrounding us. The Association’s bureau spared no expense on food, or at least no one was thirsty… “What do the people want? Bread and circuses”: well, the first year students were well served. Indeed, a lot of “traditional” activities were put in place such as: a beret, an obstacle course, a musical quiz, a dance show off…

However this WEI’s success is not only due to the effective integration of the freshers but also to the alliance the Grande Ecole du Droit and the Bi-cursus Droit-Economie of Assas. Few of them were with us, but still, a bunch of courageous students from the Parisian Law University came in order to celebrate the beginning of the school year (for students, any event is an excuse for celebration).

In the end, this year started in a very exciting way for everyone: the GED1 discovered their mates, the GED2 discovered their little protégés and the GED3 are enjoying their last time in France before living for their LL.M next year.

“Vaincre la Mucoviscidose” is an organization my family has always financially supported, yet never really been a part of: it is a five-decade-old organization whose aim is to fund cystic fibrosis research and help cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In France, CF is the most common genetic disease: the number of CF patients is estimated at 6.800. When Me Stéphane Baller, co-director of our diploma and partner at EY Société d’avocats, encouraged us to build a project from scratch, I was glad to have the opportunity to encourage solidarity. Our Grande Ecole du Droit Degree is well known locally for the strong solidarity between “GEDy warriors” students (as our dear professor M. Einbinder calls us). Fellow students and dear friends joined me in this project: our team was born, and I will forever be grateful to Mai, Anne-Isabelle and Mayeul, for creating together a project so close to my heart.

Our team was easily brought together, yet you might not have bet a coin on us back in 2014: we are all very different (a blond violinist dreaming of Singapore, a Vietnamese Alumni President hooked on Harvey Specter from Suits, a ginger-beard fiscal specialist, and myself, a Media Law, cooking and shoe passionate). We all individually wanted to help an organization. Indeed, although you could consider our workload to be quite important, it is important for students to find time for other things, such as sport, music, cooking … Our “thing” for 2015 was the RunAssceaux project.

The Lysias contest is a must at our law school; it is both a speaking contest and an advocacy one. First year students (L1) plead in civil law, while second year students (L2) plead in criminal law. The competition consists on four rounds. Candidates have six days to deal with a topic and write a pleading either as a prosecutor or as a lawyer. Then two candidates compete before a jury composed of lawyers, teachers and secretaries of the conference.

So the first round is made up of some undergraduate students in first year and 24 students in second year, some of whom were selected for the quarterfinals. For the last rounds, the jury designates the best candidates: four for the semifinals and finally two for the final. And then it is time for La Grande Ecole du Droit to make its voice heard. Indeed, five GED 1 and six GED 2 participated in this contest: Lydia BELKADI Tom GUELIMI, Ingrid BRUYAS, Allison CLOZEL Flora BOILLAUT, Elena AUCLAIR, Clemence LAMY, Inés RODRIGUEZ, Pauline BALAIRE, Alexis CORLAY and Ayoko DEGBOEVI.

The subjects tackled by students often resumed famous cases like the Oscar Pistorius one, but revisited. In addition, riddled with puns, they naturally lend themselves to humor, the jury assesses the true legal coherence of the argument but the ability to laugh, surprise or excite the audience.

Very early, I knew my future job would imply the English language in order to be capable of studying abroad, and then, living abroad. I decided to gather information about law studies since I am a literary person who loves to write and argue. However, I wanted a university course which stands out, so I searched all the different possibilities to study law. I found double degrees that allowed me to both learn law and develop a high level of English thanks to a magazine which listed available courses. I immediately understood that this totally fitted my expectations and I went deeper into my research until I found the Grande Ecole du Droit on the Jean Monnet University’s website.

The 2014-2015 promotion of the Grande Ecole du Droit is mainly composed of people from the scientific branch in high school. Others are from the economic branch while the literature one is the less represented. How have these students discovered this very special curriculum ?

The usual process to access a school after the baccalauréat is APB (Admission Post-Bac). Many of us have discovered the GED through this process. APB is a huge website with many interesting formations but the choice is very broad. Only short periods of time are given to pupils to make a decisive choice. This is the case of Opale who was interested in learning French-English law and joined the GED, “without really knowing the prestige of the partnership with EY and the famous LLM”. She has discovered that the GED is more than just a French/English law training. Similarly Lucie and Salomé « explored the depths of APB » and went to the open day of the university “to seek information directly from students.”

Entering the premises of Ernst & Young was probably the moment when we all understood what were the privileges of our specific diploma.

In fact, what is different with being in the GED is actually the close contact and the direct familiarity that is offered to us with the professional framework that we are able to frequent regularly. Thus we often go to Ernst & Young to attend useful and gripping seminaries held by Mr. Baller in person.